The New TA

I don’t mean technical analysis.

1. Have you ever sworn off trading, but only lasted for a couple of days?
2. Have you ever slammed your fist on your desk when you get stopped out, or just miss filling your order by one penny?
3. Do you believe you can stop trading any time you want, even though you keep losing?
4. Have you ever switched from stocks to options or futures figuring that would end your losing streak?
5. Do you envy people who make money trading?
6. Has your trading caused trouble at home?
7. Have you ever felt that you would be better off today if had not started trading?

If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, you may need to slow down and rethink your life. You just may be a …Trade-a-holic!

Personally, these questions are little uncomfortable for me to answer. To help people like you, and me, I am kicking off a new service called Tradeaholics Anonymous. This is the new TA. But prior to explaining my new service, I’ll tell you a story.

The other night after work, sitting in my man-cave, I looked at the charts and started wondering whether or not gold hit a bottom and turned upwards. I read Craig’s post for the day, which brought things into focus for me, and I thought indeed it turned and started upward. Next I took a look at JNUG– a 3X bullish ETF I like to trade – and I just watched it for about 30 minutes and then decided to put in a stink bid. I didn't get a fill. I expected a pull-back at the open that might be a good entry point. The next morning I placed a rather stinky stink bid. And about five minutes before the opening bell, watching the ETF move towards my bid, a higher power took hold of me.

I slid that mouse over and canceled my order.

Next, I went downstairs and made some coffee. I came upstairs an hour later looked at the charts and saw that my bid would have been filled and the ETF was moving higher… then lower, then higher. If I had set a trailing stop I might’ve been washed out with a small gain, but with a stop loss below my bid, things wouldabeen rosy, and absolutely smokin' the next day.

But I didn't feel like I missed out on anything. In fact I haven’t made a trade all week.

I decided to rethink my trading.

I have spent a lot of time trading over the past several years with very little to show for it except some most excellent tax deductions. And now I stand up and publicly say…

My name is Jerome, and I am a Trade-aholic.

Worse yet, I have failed as a trader.

I define “failed at trading” as “I am not making $50 for every hour I spend staring at the screen making trades.” So in my case, even in years where I broke even, or profited, I must admit that I have failed. If you feel the same way, this service just might be for you. Since I’m a person who likes to share what I have with others, the service is free. In fact you don’t even need to sign up. Just simply follow the simple five-step plan that I provide below. It’s easy.

The Service

1. Close your trading account.
2. With some of that leftover fiat, buy gifts for the loved ones in your life.
3. Tell your loved ones, “I’m sorry.”
4. Use the rest to buy silver and gold. Now is a good time.
5. Save up your fiat, and only buy more silver and gold when Turd calls a bottom, and invest the rest of it with a plan, and phronesis.*

Now that we know what the problem is, and we know how to fix it, we still have a need to make good use of our time earning fiat. We don’t have to stop investing, but we really should stop handing our money over to the banksters via risky, ill-considered trades, motivated by greed, desperation, or the quest for that elusive 10-bagger. Hanging up our day-trader hats and simply thinking of ourselves as investors may be the right step for many. I know there are many preppers here who do not day-trade, may be tempted to start, and might find it quite unprofitable if they did try. There are other ways to make fiat to move you closer to your goals.

If you read between the lines of this post, I hope you can see that changes Craig discussed in his February 12 article have me rattled as it brought some things into focus. Not that I believe the Keynesian collapse is upon us, but the reality of its inevitable arrival has been re-stamped on my brain. When I was first awakened in 2010, I realized that I was deeply in debt with little equity and even less cash and savings. Our response was to buy silver and gold (-ish silver and 00 gold) with all incoming fiat we could spare, and to purchase & store emergency supplies for the collapse, which I just knew was going to arrive any day, and certainly by 2013.

A comment back on our February 13 thread really got me to thinking: Our good friend Smkmjk2001 said, “If setups like those that currently exist in the metals fail to produce significant gains/progress, I fail to see what will.” And Streber added a concise summary of the reasons why, suggesting a redoubled effort by banks that leads the average investor to conclude, “Look Homer, PMs are still a bad investment.”

I, for one, am not complaining anymore about the low price of metals. I suspect that when the metals finally see the gains that we're hoping for, we will not have an economy with a viable metals market enabling us to pay off a house, or purchase a dream prepper property. So let’s do what two thirds of the world is doing: Thank God for low metal prices, keep stacking, and invest wisely. Our day will come, but I am in no hurry to see it.

I’m not going to predict the end anymore. The reflation of real estate has been good to my family, altering the focus of our future plans. As we endeavor to acquire a debt free property where we can grow & raise our own food long-term (if need be), we shall continue to stack. But today I favor silver coins that can serve as money rather than 100 ounce bars for investing. Instead, I want to invest in soil, water, solar power, distance from cities, security, housing, and trustworthy neighbors. These are items I will deeply appreciate whether or not the collapse occurs before I finish my days on this earth.

I admire the savvy traders that participate in this blog and wish you continued success in your future trading. Make fiat and keep taking metals out of this market. I will cheer you on, but I can’t keep up with you. We all have differing abilities and skill sets. If trading isn’t going bring the fiat that will fully enable the desired lifestyle change, we need to find another way.

Let’s use the days wisely to profit as we can to change our lifestyle.

Most of us who have failed at trading should simply look for another venture by which you can profit—preferably a venture where the rules are simple, the business is straightforward, and Wall Street banks are not manipulating its market daily.

I certainly plan to keep stacking. But since I have this retirement fund with my employer I need to put that somewhere that will provide me a decent return. I plan to invest (not day-trade) in something that is bullish with metals without leverage. At this point, I’ll simply purchase shares of GLD when Craig says we are lookin’ bullish, and cash out when the COT report starts to look bearish... and I am all ears for other suggestions.

So putting all of the trade-aholic losses behind us with the 2017 tax return that I’m working on, my wife and I are having fun with a new venture.

In the past year we have purchased several RV travel trailers and sold them. My wife set up an automated Craigslist email sent to us each time somebody lists a travel trailer or RV for sale within a set price range. When we see something we like, we move fast, driving over to take a look with our cash in hand, prepared to make the deal. We pull the trailer home, clean it up, repair a few things if we have time, and list it for sale. We typically drive to one of two large cities to buy trailers where people are desperate to get some cash. We live in a tourist area in central Arizona where these sorts of things sell for a higher price. (AKA: arbitrage) So far so good. We average 1K in profit on the deals. We broke even on one. No losses. Our little venture only requires a truck that can pull the trailer and a place to park it. And we enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the adventure of traveling to another city, a nice lunch or dinner, stopping to see relatives.

Our venture has been more profitable than my trading, and the time spent is moving us toward our long-term goals of that country property. It continuously provides us with a travel trailer for vacations and even a backup bedroom if one of our kids needed to move home--not to mention an extra place to stay if a friend or relative is in dire straits. Low risk, modest reward.

I suggest you to find a way to earn extra fiat and put it to good use, whether you stack, prep or invest part of it. I’m sure we would all love to hear entrepreneurial ideas that some of you are engaging in. Entrepreneurship, in my view, is going to be a wise career choice in the future, perhaps one of the only choices.

So I am swearing-off day-trading & swing-trading (mostly) and taking up entrepreneurship and longer term investing. … Really, I mean it!

After this decision, a very good friend and trading accomplice called me yesterday to tell me about a new trading service he found (actually, they cold-called him). Just a mere 5K for their trading class and they guarantee 0 per day profit if you load your account with 10K and follow their formula. Told him "I better pass." And my service is cheaper!

Happy stacking… Caress your metals often, and may your preparations be wise and effective.

* Phronesis: A Greek philosophical term meaning "wisdom in determining ends and the means of attaining them."